House of Mirrors
by aforallyyyyyyx
Summary: Blaine Anderson just wishes his past would stay where it belongs. Namely, in Chicago, August, 1998. People ask him why there's such an age difference between him and Cooper, and here is a reason why. WIP, set in S2/S3. Blangst, Klaine.


**Prologue**

It started with his father's death in the August of 1998; the day and night was hot. Blaine didn't like the cliché, but it was how he remembered it.

Blaine's father had an identical twin brother, and it was that uncle that identified the body; four days after the time of death at the scene of the crime- a penthouse in Chicago. That was what the official reports had said.

Blaine was only four when it had happened; it would only be a fortnight and odd days that he would have been five. He remembered the smell and the heat, his mother taking him out for pizza after getting his first set of straight As in Kindergarten…but nothing else about the place he had lived in for the nearly first five years of his life. And maybe it was best if he didn't.

In fact, Blaine wished he remembered none of it. And, if not that, then some other way for his father to go. _Anything_ but being murdered by his mother.

 **Chapter 1**

"Kurt?"

It was 2012, now, and Blaine could certainly say that he was happy. Happy as he could be, anyway. He had a boyfriend, now, and everything was coming along perfectly. He (still) had straight As, even though Pamela Anderson wasn't the kind of mom to pressure him into keeping such high standards. He attended school in Ohio- a rich private institution called Dalton Academy- with a spot on the Warblers to top it all.

The Warblers were Dalton Academy's show choir. Popular, it continued a legacy of prep-school boys' musical dreams. To be selected by the High Council was one of the highest honors. Blaine thought it silly when asked his immediate opinion, but the boys at Dalton simply adored the members of the a cappella dreamboat chorus.

He loved Kurt more than anything, though. It was in that choir room he fell in love with his friend- most joked about how it was sad that a dead bird was the one to push them together- finally, according to Wesley Montgomery and Trent Nixon.

Kurt had sung "Blackbird" by the Beatles to mourn the loss of Pavarotti, a yellow canary. To know that so much compassion and care could exist in such a being had Blaine blinking with confusion; for he didn't notice it before.

Blaine wasn't known for his general awareness when it came to love. His friends, Jeff and Nick, placed their bets that eventually lasted for months on whether the shy, nervous, and bullied gay kid would tell his dark-haired, seemingly confident friend of his crush. Kurt had kept it inside for ages, and Blaine supposed that he had hid his love for ages, too, pushing it so far below the surface that it only burst in one giant, cathartic moment. Such a moment ended up being "Blackbird".

Even today, Blaine still admires his soulmate for everything. Everything. The late-night comforts, the songs, the bravery in his heart, and the love that never ends for Blaine himself. Kurt would go on until the end of heaven or hell for him. Blaine knows it, too, for he was the same way.

Recalling June 30th, 2012, is easy for him. Blaine was at the Hummel-Hudson residence all day, working on Kurt's original Pippa Middleton musical in his boyfriend's bedroom (with the door open, of course).

Finn Hudson, Kurt's step-brother, was there, too. They argued about who would read for each Middleton sister; Kurt wanted Finn to be Pippa, but Finn was a more Kate kind of guy. Blaine sat uncomfortably on the bed, watching them; it was usually unwise to interrupt a Kurt vs. Finn debacle. That kind of thing could get him very well killed some day.

"What, Blaine?" Kurt answered him moments after Blaine had already closed his mouth, raising a dramatic hand to silence Finn, who clearly wanted to be outside playing football with Sam Evans or Noah Puckerman.

"I…was just wondering if we could do something else now?" said Blaine tentatively, feeling small. Finn and Kurt (bless him, but it was a bit much) had been arguing for nearly an hour.

"Well, why didn't you say something earlier?" frowned Kurt, looking quite like the picture of a snappy teenager, "I would think we know each other well enough by now to tell one another if we're bored."

Kurt was agitated, Blaine knew that. What was meant to be the perfect plan for a story about the Middletons ended up taking much longer than the timeframe originally anticipated.

Blaine felt bad, and immediately backtracked, "Oh, no, I'm not bored, Kurt. It's just, um…Maybe you should let Finn go play outside. He looks like he might be able to run as fast as the Flash being stuck in here."

"Oh," said Kurt, surprised (and not quite like the version of surprised that Blaine liked). "Fine, then. We could always marathon 1990s Broadway bootlegs a day earlier than scheduled."

As Finn left, Kurt smiled at his boyfriend, but Blaine could see through it. Kurt was still annoyed.

"Thanks, man," Finn mouthed from behind his step-brother. Blaine didn't respond, and remembered watching _The Secret Garden_ and _Once On This Island_ for the remaining afternoon.

"Okay, number three," Kurt announced around five hours later, "You can pick this time."  
Blaine debated for about thirty seconds about what to watch next during Once On This Island's finale. He had already made his decision.

"Well, I know my pick isn't from the 90s," said Blaine mischievously, "But…I was thinking _A Very Potter Musical_. Namely the sequel, because it was better."

Kurt raised his eyebrows. "That show isn't even Broadway."

"I know," Blaine pleaded, "I'm sick of all these people too talented to name. Please?"

It felt like was getting harder and harder to persuade Kurt every day. Apparently, immunity to Blaine's puppy dog eyes was able to be built up.

Eventually, though, Blaine got his way. He loved the Harry Potter books. When he was seven, he stayed inside his classroom every day at lunch to catch up, and convinced Pam to take him to every release each consecutive year that followed.

The child version of Blaine had never understood what made him so fixated on the tale of Harry and his friends, Ron and Hermione, as they fought against an evil wizard named Voldemort. Now sixteen, Blaine supposed it had to do with the approachability of the hero.

Harry Potter was a young boy who never knew his real parents, having had them killed when he was just an infant. He grew up with his mean aunt and uncle, who didn't believe in magic, and hated the thought of it. When Hagrid comes to take him away to Diagon Alley, Harry finds hope in a new world filled with wonder and the idea of friends, which was previously inaccessible to him because of his bully of a cousin. Blaine relished in his adventures, and was still obsessed after all of this time. He liked to think he would be always.

They finished the parodic _A Very Potter Sequel_. Kurt and Blaine were beginning to fall asleep together in the living room, and Kurt's parents had long since gone to bed, trusting the ever so dapper Blaine Anderson enough to leave them be for a night. Finn was at Mike's house with Sam.

"Hey Blaine," murmured Kurt, turning on one side, "Why do you like Harry Potter so much?"  
Blaine was about to close his eyes on the air mattress on the floor when he heard the question. "I don't really know," He answered sleepily, a yawn interrupting him, "I guess I've always liked it."

"Everyone likes Harry Potter," said Kurt, "I still don't understand it. What's wrong with a classic love triangle with vampires and werewolves involved?"

"I don't have time to argue with you about this right now," smiled Blaine in the dark, his tone drowsy, "I'm tired."

"Mmmm," agreed Kurt, "But…you said you always liked it. When did you first read it? We can't all be you…'I've been reading the books since _The Sorcerer's Stone_ came out'…"

"Kurt," whined Blaine, but then he decided to answer the question. "I think it was 2001, maybe. I know I had to have been about seven. Coop read the first three before me…he was really mean about it, actually, he never liked to share his books…"

Blaine mumbled his words, for he was falling asleep. Kurt bit back a yawn of his one before settling down on the couch; Blaine, ever the problem solver, decided early in their friendship that they should take turns for sleepovers.

"I don't really know what had me so obsessed with them," Blaine yawned, "Harry just seemed…relatable…the way he stood up to Malfoy in the first book…"

He fell asleep. Kurt wasn't far behind, but was thinking of how shy Blaine had sounded through his drowsiness. Like it was hard for him to talk about the reason why he liked a _book series._

"That's nice," said Kurt before the gentleness of sleep overtook him, too.


End file.
